Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) - how does it affect your skin, hair and energy levels?
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Introduction
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a controversial subject. Here at Seeoran, we are focused on helping you look and feel your best as you get older, and the reality is that hormone levels have a massive effect both on how we look and on how we feel. According to Healthline.com, the symptoms of menopause can include insomnia, weight gain, anxiety, dry skin, thinning hair on your head and an increase of hair on other parts of your body.
We would like to note that this is not a medically written article but is based on information from reputable and linked sources. If you choose to consider the use of HRT, you need to do your own research first and then speak to your doctor, as it is only available on prescription.
Lifestyle and diet during menopause
During menopause and in the few years leading into it, diet, exercise, particularly strength training and impact activities like jogging, and getting enough sleep are extremely important. Bone density starts to decrease, which can lead to osteoporosis, so you should be ensuring that you eat foods rich in calcium and Vitamin D.
Diet is especially important because of the impact of reducing oestrogen levels on collagen in your skin. Foods high in antioxidants, such as brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, are highly recommended.
Negative perception of HRT
According to the 2019 study “The Controversial History of Hormone Replacement Therapy”, HRT started in the 1960s. The first clinical trials were carried out in the late 1990s. In 2002, findings were published, which showed that HRT had more detrimental than beneficial effects. After this publication, HRT use, which had been growing in popularity, dropped as the results caused panic.
Since then, new studies have showed that the use of HRT in younger women or in early postmenopausal women has many beneficial effects but the public opinion on HRT is still quite negative, with the result that only a minority of women avail of HRT to help with menopause symptoms.
Safety of HRT
According to the UK National Health System, “the risks of HRT are small and usually outweighed by the benefits”.
When you are assessing whether HRT is safe for you, you would weigh up many factors including your BMI, your own medical history, your family medical history, your lifestyle factors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, the menopuase symptoms you are experiencing, the benefits you would like to experience, including improvement in quality of life and urogenital symptoms, and the potential risks of HRT, including increased risk of stroke, blood clots, ovarian and breast cancer.
Menopause and your skin & hair
According to WebMD, during menopause your body stops making as much collagen, you lose fat under your skin and the elasticity of your skin is reduced.
This, combined with the dryness caused by the drop in oestrogen, can cause your skin to age, leading to sagging, fine lines and wrinkles around your face, neck and other parts of your body..
In the study, “Postmenopausal skin and estrogen”, they tell us that skin is oestrogen responsive, and that several studies have been carried out which support the anti-aging properties of oestrogen replacement therapies in postmenopausal women.
Oestrogen can be taken in different ways, including a pill, a patch, a gel or a spray. According to the study, whichever way it is taken, it appears to have positive effects on hormonal aging, and increases skin collagen, thickness, elasticity and hydration.
They explore the possibility of using oestrogen replacement for long-term skin management in post-menopausal women.
Hair loss and thinning during menopause is related to a lowered production of oestrogen and progesterone. When the levels of these hormones drop, hair grows more slowly and becomes thinner.
Another effect of the female hormones reducing is that male hormones are produced, which contributes to the thinning of hair on the head and increased growth on the face.
To protect your hair as much as possible, try to eat a nutritious diet. Also be mindful of your stress levels as high levels can contribute to hormonal imbalance.
Consider exercise, yoga and meditation as ways to keep stress to a minimum. Also, be mindful to drink plenty of water.
Sage Tablets | Menopause Supplements
- Traditional herbal medicinal product for menopausal hot flushes and night sweats
- Hot flushes & night sweats
- Excessive sweating
Women's experiences of HRT
In The Femedic article, “HRT reviewed – three women share their experiences”, the women interviewed, who have taken HRT, describe having “a new lease of life”, more energy, sleeping better, no more hot flushes, reduced joint pain and improved mood.
However, one of the interviewees, did not have a good experience with HRT and decided instead to address her symptoms through changes in her diet, including cutting out sugar, trans fats and preservatives, and switching to a “lot of vegetables, fruit, seeds, and healthy fats, especially omega 3”.
Menopause Supports
According to WedMD, the following supplements can be helpful for certain menopause symptoms:
- Black Cohosh for hot flushes
- Flaxseed for night sweats
- Calcium for bone loss
- Red Clover to mimic oestrogen
- Vitamin D for bone health
- Wild Yams to mimic oestrogen and progesterone
- Ginseng to boost mood
- St John’s Wort to help with mood
- Soy to mimic oestrogen
WebMD say that there is some evidence that St. John’s Wort, particularly when combined with Black Cohosh, can improve mood-related issues that arise during menopause. We have included a product below that combines both and gets a lot of positive feedback on Amazon.
- Wild Yam Extract and Marigold Cream, a natural solution for menopause and perimenopause symptoms.Contains diosgenin from Napiers Wild Yam extract - active ingredients recommended by Barbara O'Neill
- Deeply nourishes and hydrates mature skin, providing relief from dryness. Formulated to provide comfort and balance during menopause and perimenopause.
Conclusion
Every woman has to weigh up the benefits and risks of hormone replacement therapy, and speak to her doctor, but we suspect that, in terms of keeping your skin as youthful as possible, the best time to consider HRT might be as soon as your oestrogen levels start to drop, during the period called perimenopause which, for a lot of women, starts after the age of 45.
We recommend reading the article, “The Decision-Making Guide to taking HRT”, because it provides a good framework to help you figure out if HRT is the right choice for you. It makes the very valid point that all medication has some risk of which the patient needs to be aware, and that for “healthy women, who take HRT for 5 years to control menopausal symptoms, HRT is likely to convey benefit and not harm”.
The article references “The 7 steps of Decision Making” (Pam Brown, 2007), which are – decide on your desired outcome, gather the data, develop alternatives, list pros and cons of each alternative, make the decision, take action to implement it and, finally, learn from and reflect on the decision. It suggests how you can apply these steps to decide if HRT would be a good option for you.
Our final point would be, when you speak to a doctor, try to choose one that has had specialist menopause training or attend an actual menopause clinic. Unfortunately, you can’t assume that every GP is up-to-date on the latest research and data on HRT. So make sure you visit a doctor who really knows their stuff when it comes to menopause, HRT and your options!